An Artist's Tale
by kuro-neko16
Summary: As she and her group head back to Winding Circle,Tris stumbles upon an 8 year old girl with the power to bring things to life...at a price. Full summary in profile. My first fanfic...and it's finished. May or may not be a sequel. R&R!
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**A/n: I hope everyone enjoys this! it's my first fanfic! BTW when I was thinking up names I was in the middle of drawing faeries, hence the name "Faerena" This is a fixed up version of chapter 1. I fixed up a few sentences here and there, but the biggest one was that I took away Renee's lisp b/c pple were telling me it was confusing to read! This story gets better around chapter 5 b/c it takes awhile for me to adjust to writing a new story...So just deal with the sorta childish way of writing for now and you'll see that my writing improves later on!**

**Anyway, this is the NEW version of chapter one! It sounds so much better than the original!** **I changed Madam Crosswire's name to Madam Castifore but I'm not finished rewritting chapter two yet so just so you know, Madam Castifore and Madam Crosswire are one and the same!**

**R&R!**

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS! **

**An Artist's Tale **

**Chapter 1: The Beginning **

"There she is" I glanced back as I stumbled down the steep hillside a small easel tucked under my right arm and a half finished painting of a flower tucked under my left arm. I stubbed my toe on a rock that had somehow managed to plant itself in my path. I winced in pain and then fell to the ground as a sharp pain shot through my chest, my paints and brushes not to mention my easel and canvas sprawled around me and I hurried to pick them up.

"Here." I heard a grouchy but kind voice say I glanced up and noticed it was one of the women who had been following me. A couple of my brushes were in her outstretched hand. I reached out tentatively and took them from her grasp and as I did I felt something like an electric shock run down my arm. 

"Thanks." I mumbled quickly and turned away with my things in my hands. As I walked hurriedly down the hill I could hear the two women continue talking. I strained my ears to hear what they were saying. 

"Is that her?" I heard the woman who had helped me ask the other woman. 

"Yes, her name is Faerena Massey. Our village believes she is possessed by a demonic spirit." I felt my temper rise, the woman was very well known in my village her name is Madam Belinda Castifore and she's the wife of the news crier. She's the nosiest and most snobby woman in the village, but that didn't give her the right to call me a demonic spirit, did it? I quickened my pace, walking as fast as my short legs would allow, but kept one ear open to hear the rest of the conversation. 

"I see, where are her parents?" The strange woman asked. 

"They died a couple years ago." Madam Castifore said, "So she and her five siblings live in the orphanage. They have an uncle that refuses to take them in because Faerena scares him." I could feel the blood pumping in my ears, why was Madam Castifore being so cruel? Couldn't she see I was in range of her voice? Couldn't she see that what she was saying was tearing open old wounds? 

"Hey Renee! Hurry up we're leaving!" I glanced up to see my oldest brother Kalmia Massey waving at me at the foot of the hill, my other siblings Crystal, Marik, Elekiel and Sonya were standing behind him. 

"I'm coming! Just give me a second!" I shouted back, forgetting everything I had just heard when I looked upon my family's smiling faces. I blundered and stumbled the rest of my way down the hill to meet my family. 

"Did you forget we were goin' to the beach today?" Kalmia asked, punching my arm playfully. 

"No." I answered rubbing my sore arm, "I just lost track of time, I was too busy painting on the hill." I glanced back and noticed with satisfaction that the two nosy women had disappeared. _Good riddance_. I thought happily. 

"Hurry up Renee!" My brother Marik said tugging my arm, "I don't wanna miss the trip to the beach!" 

"Go to the beach by yourself, for all I care!" I retorted sticking my tongue out. "I have my art supplies to worry 'bout." Marik and I are very close siblings, but we like to argue a lot which gives people the impression that we hate each other. Marik rolled his eyes and grudgingly took the easel from my arms and swung it over his shoulder. My sister Sonya took my palette with a small smile and Crystal took my brushes. Elekiel and Kalmia somehow managed to get out of helping me carry my art supplies as they always did. 

And so laughing my family and I made our way down the road that led to the beach. 

That night: 

"Renee, it's the middle of the night." Crystal murmured lifting her head up from her pillow and rubbing the sleep from her gray-green eyes. She tucked a loose strand of light brown hair behind her ear and stood up quietly making her way toward my bed across the girl's dormitory. 

"I know but I can't sleep." I whispered back still absorbed in the sketch I was working on. It was a picture of Pookie, Madam Castifore's pet poodle who hates children and only has eyes for his mistress, sleeping curled up on a rug bundled up like a baby. Crystal peeked over my shoulder and stifled a snort of laughter. The girl in the bed next to mine, Nali Handler awoke with a start as Crystal and I broke into quiet giggles. 

"Whazza matter? Why aren't you sleeping?" Sonya mumbled from her bed in the corner of the dormitory. 

"Sonya, you have to see what Renee is in the middle of drawing!" Crystal said in a stage whisper. With a halfhearted sigh Sonya stood up and walked over, stumbling in the dark and waking a few more girls on her way over to my bed. Soon about half the dormitory was crowded around my bed giggling at my picture. The small midnight gathering was soon broken up when Aristati Levidia-the prefect of our dorm- came in to see what all the commotion was. She sent everyone to bed with a warning that if she caught them out of bed again they would be sent to Matron's study first thing in the morning for a punishment. Before she left she complimented me on my drawing but suggested that I go to sleep soon. 

I was finishing up my sketch of Pookie when I remembered Madam Castifore and what she had said about me. 

_Stupid woman,_ I thought angrily brushing away the tears that threatened to fall. _I hate her, she had no right to say all those things about me._ I sniffed and clutched my pencil tighter in my small hand and brought it back down onto the paper. _I wish I could make her pay._ More and more anger built up inside me so in order to calm myself I began to add on to the picture, sending all my rage and pain into the drawing like my parents had taught me. 

After another ten minutes I set my stub of charcoal and my piece of paper down on my night table, yawning widely. It had been a long day and I was tired and I had school the next day as well. I shut my eyes and fell asleep almost immediately. 

Like I said, it had been a long day... 


	2. Chapter 2: Rain, Rain, Go Away

**Authors note: Whoever wants a description of Faerena tell me! Otherwise I'll just add it in a short chapter sometime...Now on to chapter two! Enjoy!! (I was laughing when I wrote this, I laugh a lot, even when things aren't funny.)**

**Chapter 2: Rain, Rain, Go Away**

"EEEEEAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!" I shot up in bed as a scream tore through the village, coming in through the open window. I gathered around the window with all the other girls in my dormitory. What I saw made my eyes grow wide, and I had to bite my lip to suppress the laughter in my throat. Madame Castifore was running barefoot in the street, in her white lace nightgown and hair rollers. She was screaming and crying uncontrollably. "POOKIE! NOOOOO!! MY POOKIE!!"

"I wonder what this is all about." My friend Dawn giggled.

"I don't know but it sure is funny!" I managed to answer her between laughs. The whole dormitory watched for a little while until somebody managed to catch her and calm her down. By that time we had to be dressed and downstairs for breakfast.

In the middle of breakfast Matron Cranton gave the some boring speech on good manners and etiquette. My eyelids felt heavy, and I was just about to fall asleep on Crystal's shoulder when someone burst into the dining hall and shouted my name.

"Faerena Massey!" I shot up in my seat too fast, choked on a cracker I had been nibbling on, lost my balance and fell backwards tipping over the bench. Instantly the whole room was in an uproar, people were shouting things like "What happened?" "Is she okay?" and "Who shouted?" Meanwhile my face was turning blue from the lack of air. If it hadn't been for Marik, who rushed over to my side and pounded my back, I would've been a goner. The younger orphans were crying and the older ones were trying to calm them down. It took a while till the panic level in the room somewhat died down, and everyone looked at the person who had burst into the room shouting. Madam Belinda Castifore stood in the doorway gasping for breath and sobbing. "Pookie! You killed my Pookie!"

I could actually feel the blood rush from my face as her words sunk in. _I can't have…can I? _I thought, leaning weakly on Marik's arm. At that moment Matron Cranton pulled herself together and marched right up to the frantic woman in the doorway.

"Excuse me Madam Castifore," Matron said primly, looking over her glasses and down her hawk like nose. "What do you think you are doing barging into my dining hall and making strange accusations? Might I add that you nearly caused Miss Massey to choke to death?"

"She deserves it! She killed my precious Pookie!" Madam Castifore said, pointing a chubby finger at me.

"Nonsense! Faerena would never kill an animal." Matron told the news crier's wife with a little sniff. "But I suggest you go home and take it easy for a day or two. Lie down and relax, you're too uptight and upset to think clearly." Two officers then came to take Madame Castifore back to her house. She was literally dragged away screaming something about getting her revenge.

I didn't eat my breakfast at all that morning.

**Later that day:**

"Renee, where are you going?" I heard Kalmia shout as he ran to catch up with me.

"I just bought some paints with my allowance and now I'm going to go paint." I answered avoiding his eyes.

"Hey, you still upset about this morning?" Kalmia asked kindly, "don't worry about it, Madam Castifore probably has a few screws loose, that's all. And her precious Pookie was old anyway."

"He was _stabbed_ Kalmia, he didn't die naturally." I reminded him, "I just wanna be alone right now, go away." Kalmia sighed and gave me one last pat on the back before leaving me. He always knew when to leave me alone to think and paint.

**Tris's POV:**

I watched the girl Faerena leave after talking with her brother, I quietly followed her to the small hill overlooking the village where I had first seen her yesterday. She quietly set up her small easel, placed a clean white canvas on it, squirted some paint onto her palette, and started to paint the landscape. As I looked on, the picture formed under her slow even brushstrokes. Presently I could make out the village in her painting, but something looked off. I realized with a start that she had painted a cloudy, gray sky, but in reality the sky was perfectly clear and the sun was shining. It wasn't going to rain, and as an accomplished weather mage I knew that for sure.

Suddenly I saw a flash of silver light.

_'Magic?' _I wondered. I decided that it was the time to make myself known, while the girl was calm and relaxed.

"Good day," I said quietly, stepping out from behind the trees. Faerena gave a little startled jump and turned around to face me. Dark blue eyes glared at me from under long, dirty blonde bangs. "I saw you painting and came to watch." Faerena tripled her glare and then shrugged and turned back to her painting. She seemed to be shy and untrusting around people she didn't know, which made sense considering the fact that she was an orphaned child whom was called a demon by her fellow townspeople. "I noticed that you're painting a rainy day at the village, but the skies are clear." Apart from a small shrug Faerena ignored me, and I struggled to hold my temper.

We stayed in those positions for some time; the orphaned girl sitting at her easel and painting, and I standing behind her and watching. I heard the wind howl and looked up sharply. The sky which had been perfectly clear a moments before - as I had pointed out to Faerena - was covered in thick gray clouds. The breezes around me began to move restlessly, stirring my petticoats and loose braids, they warned me that a storm was brewing. I sniffed the air and agreed with my breezes that a storm was on its way, but it smelled different.

It was no ordinary storm...

It had magic in it...


	3. Chapter 3: Am Not! Are To!

**Author's note: Faerena no longer has a lisp! She was magically cured! Actually I just got tired of writing "th" instead of "s" because it just got really confusing! XD...Now on to Chapter 3 - which I wrote during my history class

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****An Artist's Tale****

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****Chapter 3: Am Not! Are To! **

**Tris's POV **

I watched as if in a dream as Faerena dipped her brush in her white paint and lifted it to her canvas slowly.

"Wait, no! Don't!" I found my voice too late. Faerena slashed a streak of white paint down from the clouds to one of the houses in her painted village. A moment later a strip of white lightning hit the same house in the real village. I knew that house, it was the Crosswire Villa where Niko, Keth, and I had slept for the past few nights.

"Shurri and Hakkoi defend me!" I muttered wiping my spectacles and stroking Little Bear who had finally found me. The girl _was _a mage and her magic seemed to be in painting. I managed to tear my eyes away from the burning house to look at Faerena, she was trembling and wide eyed, staring in horror at her hands and then her painting. I grumbled, I was going to have _a lot_ of explaining to do…

**At the orphanage: **

"No way!" Faerena's oldest brother Kalmia shouted jumping out of his seat. "A mage?! _Seriously?_" I sighed, this was the usual reaction to hearing that a close relative was an ambient mage.

"With all do respect Miss Chandler," the normally silent Elekiel spoke up, "we were all tested for magic and found to have none."

"_And_ our family has been tested twice, when we were three our parents had a magic sniffer come, and the second time when we came here to the orphanage after…well you know." Crystal- Kalmia's twin sister - added as she gently pushed Kalmia back into his seat.

"It's not a normal type of magic and Faerena is not a normal type of mage." I explained through clenched teeth.

"You are talking about ambient magic?" The matron (a widow with a halk like nose named Mrs. Gertrude Cranton) said crisply.

"A what?" A boy with green eyes and blond hair- Marik- asked in confusion.

"An ambient mage, a mage who draws their magic from the things around them, in Faerena's case paints. My teacher once told me that for every four University mages there is one ambient mage." I said as I fought to keep control of my temper, there was something about Marik that made me want to scream and let an earthquake loose.

"I have heard about ambient mages but I've never actually me one." The Matron said, brushing an invisible speck of dust from her high necked dress.

"Well you've met me so you can't say that you've never met one." I smiled thinly at the tall thin woman. "If she doesn't learn to get her powers under control the consequences can be quite," I struggled to think of a word, "_severe_."

"I don't have magic!" Faerena burst out crossly. "It was just a coincidence that that storm came after I painted one!" She stood up and began to run out of the room crying.

"Hold up a minute," it was my turn to speak crossly as I used a bit of wind to pull her back into the room. "You aren't going anywhere until you hear me out."

"Renee just listen to Miss Chandler," Sonya pleaded with her sister.

"Or are you to _scared_?" Marik taunted.

"No, I'm not scared I can listen!" Faerena stomped her foot. "Now let me go!"

"No, now you go sit over there and listen to me." I pointed to a chair and a bolt of lightning flew out of my hand striking it. "Never mind, just sit down somewhere." I mentally kicked myself for letting my temper get the better of me, what if someone had been sitting there? Faerena automatically sat down on the floor. "Good enough," I grumbled kneeling down in front of her. "In case you didn't hear me before, an ambient mage is-"

"-a mage who works their magic through everyday things," Faerena interrupted me, avoiding my gaze and staring at the chair I had fried.

"Don't interrupt," I snapped then took a deep breath and calmed down. "Yes, and you obviously use art…Look at me!" I snapped again. Dark blue almond shaped eyes met my steely grey ones and then quickly looked away.

"Do not." Faerena said scowling and then standing up.

"Yes you do." I replied with clenched fists, praying to all the gods I could think of to give me the strength to hold my temper so as not to let a hurricane loose, but small breezes swept throughout the room slipping through my control. "Fine, you don't have to believe me now, but if you change your mind, I'm staying at the Inn near the central square. I knew that she would come to me once she realized that she really was a mage. 

And I was right...


	4. Chapter 4: Thank You for Stalking Me!

******Author's note: I appreciate criticism to help my writing! It's hard for me to keep characters in character sometimes, so when there is some O.O.C (out of character) please tell me and I'll try to fix it up! Anyway! Here is Chapter 4! ****

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An Artist's Tale

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****Chapter 4: Thank You for Stalking Me!**

**Faerena's POV: **

"Are you alright?" Sonya asked me, we were sitting in the common room- a place in the orphanage where everybody could hang out during the rest period.

"No!" I sobbed into a pillow I had taken from the couch. "That stupid woman! I hate her!"

"There, there, don't cry," Sonya said softly patting my back.

"Renee are you too angry to take a walk with me?" Elekiel asked walking over from the other side of the room.

"No, I'll come." I sat up and wiped my eyes, Elekiel is the best listener I know and I can talk to him about everything. I followed him outside to the gardens that we were supposed to be taking care of, but they were more filled with weeds then flowers.

"Lets devise a test to see if you're really a mage like Miss Chandler says." Elekiel suggested after a few minutes.

"What kinda test?" I asked somewhat suspicious.

"Well try painting me with wings and we'll see if I can fly." Elekiel answered with a small grin, he has this thing about flying.

"No."

"Okay then how about you paint a picture of the schoolhouse burning down?"

"No."

"Then how about you…"

"No."

"But you didn't even give me a chance to suggest anything yet." Elekiel complained.

"Look Elekiel, I don't need to test if I have magic or not. It's okay." I looked at the sunset, wishing I had brought my paints along.

"Alright, but…" Elekiel sighed.

"No," I said firmly, "No buts, no tests, and no fussy red haired mages!" The bell was ringing for the evening meals, so Elekiel and I began walking back.

We didn't notice Miss Chandler standing behind us with an annoyed look on her face and a big white dog standing next to her, wagging its tail.

**During Dinner: **

"Today was strange," I announced as I sat at the table poking at my noodles and meatballs. The meatballs were as rubbery as ever and the noodles tasted like plastic, they'd be better off as toys for the younger children then food.

"No kidding!" Dawn smiled as she took a sip of her fruit juice. "Who would've thought that the troublemaker Aaron would be adopted?!"

"I wasn't talking about that…" I began, then Dawns words sunk in. "Wait-a-second! _Really_?!"

"Yeah," Marik said, reaching over to swipe a meatball off of my plate. "Now who're we gonna play pranks with-Ow! Hey waddya do that for?!" He shouted when I smacked him upside the head.

"Don't take my food." I growled grabbing one of his meatballs. "He left and I didn't even get to say goodbye?!"

"There, there don't cry." Sonya said patting my back, I was starting to think that those were her favorite words.

"I know!" I smiled as an idea came to me, "I'll send him a goodbye picture!"

"Of what?" Marik asked, "You?"

"No." The rest of my family said simultaneously.

"Why not?" I whined knowing what the answer would be.

""Do you need to no why?" Kalmia asked.

"No." I scowled. _That stupid woman, who does she think she is putting all those ideas of me being a mage into my siblings heads? _

**In the girls dormitory, 12:00 am: **

I don't know what urged me to do it. Maybe it was because of Elekiels suggestion to paint pictures to test if I was really a mage, but that night I lay awake thinking. At around midnight I came to a conclusion and got out of my bed, dressed myself, and gathered up my art supplies. Carrying my shoes and art kit, I crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, and out the front entrance of the orphanage. Once outside I slipped on my shoes and ran to the hill overlooking the village where I had first met Miss Chandler.

As I took out a small tightly rolled up canvas used for calligraphy, I heard a stirring in the bushes. I looked around but saw nobody, so I shrugged my shoulders thinking it was just my imagination and got out my black paint and a medium sized brush.

_Rustle, rustle. _

I glanced up sharply; I definitely heard something that time. Dipping my brush into my paint I smiled sadistically. I had stumbled across the perfect test, it was time to paint something…And bring it to life.

**5 minutes later: **

"Ahhhhhhh!" A man jumped out of the bushes howling bloody murder. "Rats!" About fifty pitch black rats jumped out after him, their eyes glowing bright red. The man lay on the ground whimpering like a baby. I clapped gleefully and the rats stopped chewing his clothes to pieces and looked up at me. The man wet his pants.

"Gee thanks Mr. Stalker! You helped me out a lot!" I tilted my head and smiled at the petrified man as the rats disappeared, reappearing on my canvas. The man fainted and I packed up my art kit and left.

I didn't feel as sorry for the man as I felt for myself. He would only have to deal with the law enforcers. _I_ would have to deal with, I shuddered to think about it, Miss Chandler…


	5. Chapter 5: A Caterpillar!

**A/n: I was reading through the story and I realized that I SKIPPED A CHAPTER!!! This is the actual chapter five!**

BIG OOPS!

Sorry...

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!!**

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An Artist's Tale**

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****Chapter 5: A Caterpillar!****

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"So you decided to believe me." Miss Chandler said, looking down at me from where she stood in the doorway of her room in Yulger's Inn. I wondered what kind of torture she was dreaming up behind those cold grey eyes hidden behind spectacles. 

"I, uh, yeah I guess." I whispered meekly avoiding her gaze. 

"Well come in then," she finally grumbled, fixing the angle of her glasses. "But quietly my teacher and student are sleeping." I followed her into a small bedroom where she motioned for me to sit down on a chair near the window. I would've refused except for the fact that my legs felt like they were made of jelly.

"So how come you decided to believe me?" Miss Chandler asked me once I sat down.

"I kinda, sorta came up with a test." I mumbled, still unable to meet her eyes.

"What kind of test?" She asked frowning.

"I, um, wentoutlastnightandcaughtastalkerwithsomeratsIpainted!" I said quickly and in one breath. I fingered the small roll of canvas from the night before, sitting in the pocket of my uniform. I was gonna miss school if I kept on stalling- not that I cared.

"I didn't catch that."

"I went out last night and caught a stalker with some rats that I painted!" I said loudly, clenching my fists and squeezing my eyes tightly shut.

"YOU WHAT?!" The hair on my head stood up as energy crackled through the room. I whimpered.

"I went outside and, and…" I broke off with a sob, Miss Chandler was _scary_.

"Wait no, don't cry!" Miss Chandler looked flustered and frantic. "I don't know what I did or said but I'm sorry! Please don't cry, you'll wake my companions up!"

"Too late Trisana," A deep voice came from the doorway to the room. "Your warning came too late." I looked up to see what had to be the world's thinnest man. He was dressed in a long pale gray dressing robe which shimmered when the light fell on it. His long black and silver was down, remarkably unruffled by sleep. "I take it that you're Miss Faerena Massey?"

"Renee." I said scowling.

"Excuse me?" The man asked lightly.

"Renee, not Faerena, my name's Renee." I looked up defiantly, daring either of them to contradict me.

"Well Miss Renee, I am honored to meet your acquaintance. I am Niklaren-Niko-Goldeye." He said smiling. It was then that I got a good look at Mister Goldeye. He had kind eyes set under bushy black eyebrows and a huge black and silver mustache sprouting from under his long beak like nose. I tapped my chin wondering what his mustache reminded me of.

"A caterpillar!" I realized, and burst out giggling, pointing at his mustache, "It looks like a caterpillar!"

"I beg your pardon?" Mister Goldeye asked politely.

"Your mustache! It looks like a caterpillar!" I couldn't stop laughing.

"It looks like a _what_?" Mister Goldeye looked shocked and offended.

Miss Chandler raised an eyebrow in disbelief, a smile dancing on her lips.


	6. Chapter 6: Mommy?

**A/n: I was reading through the story and I realized that I SKIPPED A CHAPTER!!! So now all the chapters are mixed up!**

BIG OOPS!

Sorry...

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!!**

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An Artist's Tale**

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****Chapter 6: Mommy?****

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**Faerena's POV: **

I looked up as a single musical note pierced the air and something clear zoomed right up to me, stopping just before it smacked in to my face. I blinked, rubbed my eyes, then blinked again.

_Am I seeing things?_ I wondered in confusion as I blinked a couple of more times, but my mind refused to believe what my eyes saw.

"There are no such things as dragons." I said firmly as I squeezed my eyes shut. "And when I open my eyes there won't be a dragon in front of my face." I opened my eyes and met the amused faces of Mister Goldeye and Miss Chandler and no dragon. I sighed and then screamed and toppled backwards when the glass dragon's face popped into view. It had been on my head. My head hit a water pitcher and I slipped into darkness.

"….her siblings? I'm too young; I'm only fifteen you know. Plus I've got Keth to teach!" I woke up to hear a grumpy voice complaining. Without opening my eyes I could tell that I was lying down on a bed with a cool, wet cloth my forehead.

"Ugh, what happened?" I asked sitting up and opening my eyes. I rubbed my head, wincing when it pounded and I knew that I would have another bruise to add to my collection.

"Oh good you're awake." A man with short blonde hair with a white spot on top of his head smiled at me. He had twinkling blue eyes and an honest face. "I'm Keth Warder." He spoke slowly, carefully pronouncing each word.

"Renee Massey." I gave him my name in return.

"We were just talking about you," Mister Goldeye said stroking his mustache. "Tris would like to teach you but we do a lot of traveling and in a month or so we'll be leaving."

"I never said anything of the sort!" Miss Chandler-Tris- said indignantly. "Surely there must be some type of art mage in this village."

"None that I know of," I spoke up, "and I know this town like the colors of my paints."

"Renee is right, like lightning mages, artist mages are very rare," Mister Goldeye said.

"Why is that?" Keth asked curiously.

"I don't remember exactly why," he smoothed his mustache, "but I think it has something to do with their power of bringing things to life. If I remember anything else I'll be sure to inform Tris." He glanced at the clock, "I've got to go and get dressed now, I have a meeting in five minutes." He dashed out of the room after patting me on the head. A minute later we could hear him race out the door.

"I don't get it," Tris grumbled to Keth. "You brought Chime to life and nothing happened to you, right?"

"Maybe it's a different type of bringing things to life." He suggested.

"Who's Chime?" I asked.

"The glass dragon," the two of them answered at the same time.

"Oh," I blushed. I should've guessed. After all, the dragon's voice _did _sound like a wind chime.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Tris asked me when my stomach let loose a growl.

"Yes, but the food at the orphanage is nasty." I looked at her hopefully, "we had lumpy porridge, fruit juice, stale toast, and a slice of cheese." Keth made a face.

"Would you like to eat another breakfast, a better one?" Tris asked smiling kindly. She didn't look so scary when she smiled, in fact she almost looked nice. "You look like you could use one."

"Yes please!" I jumped out of the bed and ran to get my shoes on, tripping over a big white dog (whose name, I learned later, was Little Bear) sleeping in the doorway.

**At a restaurant: **

"I wanted to discuss something important with you," Tris said thoughtfully sipping her tea. "Hey are you listening?" She snapped. I shook my head, too busy stuffing food in my mouth to answer. "Never mind, I can wait." Tris grumbled, cradling her head in her hands.

Keth snickered about to take another bite of his toast and chomped down on his fingers instead. Tris had swiped his food using a bit of wind and glowered at him.

"Sorry," Keth mumbled, "can I have my food back?"

"It's _may I_ not _can I_." Tris told him. "Your grammar is terrible."

"I grew up in Namorn, so what?" Keth argued, "come on give it here." Tris obliged grudgingly and turned to me.

"You ready to listen?" she asked, I nodded in reply. "Okay well I'm not sure how to say this, but would you mind if you were separated from your siblings?" I glanced up startled.

"You're joking." I told her, but as I looked into her eyes I knew I was wrong.

"Do I look like one to make jokes?" She asked me with a frown and I shook my head. "I didn't think so. Now answer truthfully, would you mind being separated from your siblings?" I looked at the mage who was the same age as Kalmia and Crystal, her gray eyes were level. I thought for a moment before answering.

"I love my family a lot, and if we were separated I don't know if I'd be able to handle knowing that while I'm happy with a new family they're stuck in the orphanage." I said slowly, "but if I knew that they had a home somewhere together I think I could get by with seeing them every so often." I thought some more and then asked her why.

"If they were sent to a temple to learn and you would arrive a few months after them, do you think you could live like that?" She asked.

"I guess so…" I looked from Tris to Keth who grinned sheepishly and shrugged just as confused as I was. "…But why?"

"Goodness this is embarrassing, but would you like to come and live with me?" Tris's face turned the color of her hair and Keth and I both gaped at her as though she had two heads and a tail.

"You mean...you want to be my mommy?" I asked her wide eyed, after I finally managed to find my voice.

And that's when the shouting began…


	7. Chapter 7: Cold Heart

**A/n: I was reading through the story and I realized that I SKIPPED A CHAPTER!!! So now all the chapters are mixed up!**

BIG OOPS!

Sorry...

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!!**

* * *

An Artist's Tale**

* * *

****Chapter 7: Cold Heart****

* * *

**

**Renee's POV**

Tris, Keth, and I ran out of the restaurant the moment we heard the shouting begin. The cause of the shouts was blocked by a crowd of people that grew larger by the minute. People were fighting to get a glimpse of what was in the center. 

"Let's go." Keth said turning to me and Tris. Tris shook her head.

"I'm not that crazy." She replied, glaring over her glasses. "Besides, I'm not so sure I _want _to see what happened, I don't think you should go either."

But Keth and I went together despite her protests. We fought our way to the middle and suddenly found ourselves staring at a morbid sight.

It was a corpse. It's gender was unable to be identified without taking off its clothes, because its skin was riddled with deep gashes from which blood poured out, and the ribbon that identified whether it was husband, wife, or single man/woman was soaked with so much blood that its color was unknown as well.

"Hakkoi defend me." Keth whispered drawing the gods circle on his chest. I followed his gaze and my breath caught in my chest.

The corpse had a hole in its chest and its heart had been ruthlessly ripped out and was nowhere to be seen.

"I feel sick…" I mumbled drawing the gods circle on my chest as well and then putting a hand over my mouth as I remembered the time _they_ were murdered.

_'Mommy? Daddy?' I whispered as I saw blood covering the walls in the small bedroom. _

_'MOMMY! DADDY!' I shouted again as I ran to the man and woman sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood. _

_'NOOOOOOOO!!!!' I screamed in despair as I realized they were finally dead. _

_'I'll kill you!' I shouted at the shadow in the corner watching me. 'I'll kill you for what you did!!!' _

_'Hah! Hahahahaha' The shadow laughed at me as I cried and tried to wake my parents up. 'I'll be waiting little one…' The shadow stopped laughing and spoke in a voice that sent chills up my spine. '…Let me give you a present before I leave…' _

_I felt an ice cold hand placed over my heart, and I passed out as the shadow person left and the law enforcement arrived. _

_'I'll be waiting…' _

"I said out of the way!" A voice broke through my thoughts. "In the name of the Green Man, I said move it!" I looked up to see a burly man shoving his way forward stopping when his eyes met the gruesome sight. "My gods…" He breathed, drawing the gods circle over his heart like Keth and I had both done.

"Wait!" I shouted as the man set down a bag and rummaged through it finally drawing out a small vial of liquid and beginning to dab it on the corpse's eyes.

"What are you doing Renee?" Keth whispered sharply as he tried to pull me back. I tugged myself free of his arms and took a step forward to the corpse.

"Who are you?" The man asked me frowning, staring at me with striking green eyes framed with black lashes. "How dare you interrupt mage business?"

"I-that is- there's a handprint." I told the mage softly as I ran back behind Keth. "On his chest."

The man looked surprised and very uncertain but still took a closer look at the chest of the corpse.

"She's right." The unknown mage frowned and blew a wisp of black hair, which had escaped from his horsetail, out of his face. There was a small handprint on the right side of the upper torso of the dead person. He motioned for someone standing behind him with his head bowed to fetch him an eyeglass. When he received it he took a closer look at the mangled body and then stood up and faced the two other men standing behind him.

"Call the law enforcement and tell them to get here as fast as they can, we've found a clue." Then he turned to me and Keth with his eyes flashing like green fire. "You two come with me, you're both under arrest."

I buried my head in Keth's sleeveless, billowing robe and began to cry.

I didn't want to be arrested, because I didn't do anything wrong.

But I cried mostly because I could feel the same icy cold hand on my heart.


	8. Chapter 8: The Reason Part One

**A/n: I was reading through the story and I realized that I SKIPPED A CHAPTER!!! So now all the chapters are mixed up!**

BIG OOPS!

Sorry...

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!!**

* * *

An Artist's Tale**

* * *

****Chapter 8: The Reason Part 1****

* * *

****Renee's POV**

Tris taught me how to meditate that night while Niko was out at another meeting for mages and Keth was working at a local glass smith. During meditation I thought back to earlier that morning… 

_"Now wait just one minute!" I heard a fussy, annoyed voice. "What are you doing to my students?" _

_"Tris! They're arresting me and I didn't do nothing wrong!" I smiled through my tears, I never thought I'd see the day that I'd be happy to see the short tempered, fiery haired mage. _

_"You mean you didn't do anything wrong." Tris said angrily, pushing her spectacles back higher up her long nose. Keth rolled his eyes probably thinking that it was just like her to bring up grammar in the middle of something serious going on. _

_"Please step away from the girl ma'am." One of the men holding my arms said sternly. "She's a ruthless murder underneath all that innocence." _

_"A murderer?" Tris scoffed, barely managing to hide a grin. "This is almost like what happened to you Keth!" Keth smiled grimly. "Now release my students at once before I get angry!" Tris' face was already flushed with anger and I silently wondered if it was actually possible for her to get even angrier. _

_"Let go now, before you regret it." Keth advised the men holding him. "She and I are both lightning mages." _

_"There are no such things as lighting mages!" The mage with the green eyes said disdainfully. Tris growled looking like a bull that just saw red. She would've probably done something that would've got her arrested as well if it hadn't been for Niko, coming down the road, whistling like a bird. _

_"Oh hello Tris. Shouldn't Renee be at school? And Keth at the glass smith's?" Niko said calmly. Keth and I stared at him oddly. _

_"You know these people Master Goldeye?" The green-eyed mage asked Niko with respect in his eyes. _

_"Of course, the copper-haired one is my student, and the other two are her students." Niko told him coolly. "Now why are they being held by guards? I hope they didn't do something wrong?" _

_"The little girl knows something about the murdered person we found." The mage said respectfully. "The young man was with her so we assume he knows something as well." _

_"Don't assume things until you have proof." I sniffed about to burst into tears again. "Niko, I didn't murder that person! I'm in the orphanage because of a murder just like it!" I shuddered to think of the memory of the shadow man and what he did to my parents. _

_"You heard Renee, release her at once." Niko ordered, Keth cleared his throat to get Niko'ss attention. "And don't forget Kethlen as well." _

_"But Master Goldeye!" _

_"Release them and I'll see if I can help you solve the mystery of this murder." Niko ordered. The green-eyed mage gave the order to release me and Keth and we were both freed from the hands of the guards. _

_"Niko? Aren't you supposed to be at a meeting?" Tris asked him once she calmed down somewhat. _

_"Unfortunately yes, but one off your breezes escaped and found me so I figured that you were looking for me and so I excused myself and left for the Inn." Niko explained. "I never thought I'd stumble across a murder." _

_"Niko he was being really mean." I told him as I ran behind Tris, Chime stuck her head out sleepily from the sling on her' back. _

_"Let's go inside somewhere and sort this all out." Keth suggested brightly. "We could all use a drink to calm down." _

_"Yes," Niko agreed. "But Renee should go along to school." _

_"No. I'm not goin' an' you can't make me." I said obstinately. So I didn't go to school, instead, Tris and Niko made me stay back at the Inn while they talked with the green-eyed mage who accused me and Keth of being murderers. _

_I sat in the Inn for the entire day until Tris came back and told me that Keth and I were both free from blame. I begged her to tell me what happened, but instead I was forced to learn how to meditate. _

"Renee? Are you listening?" I opened my eyes to find myself face to face with Chime.

"Chime? Since when do you talk?" I wondered out loud, and saw Tris duck to hide a small grin. "Oh, that was you speaking?" I asked Tris, blinking my dark blue eyes slowly and stood up. Well, attempted to stand up anyway. My legs buckled from underneath me and I fell back down to the floor with a soft thump.

"Niko's here." Tris said softly, a change from her regular grouchy voice. "He says to go and get your clothes and things; he's already talked with Madame Cranton who has given permission for you to stay with us for a while."

I nodded, but didn't attempt to stand up again, but waited until my legs stopped feeling like overcooked noodles. Once I decided that my legs would support me I stood up and stretched my aching limbs.

"Well I guess I'll be going now," I said yawning and rubbing my tired eyes with a fist.

"Come back before nightfall, will you?" Niko asked as I was about to slip out the door. "Tris tells me that you have an enemy that roams the street at night looking for little girls." I blushed deeply and looked down at my shoes when he smiled his crooked smile.

"G-Goodbye!" I nearly shouted, as I practically ran out of the room flustered.

**3rd person POV **

"Tris," Niko said seriously once Renee had left the room, "It's about Renee…And her magic."

**Renee POV **

_Jeez, does Tris tell Niko everything? _I wondered as I walked quickly back to the orphanage to get my things. Lucky for me, everybody was at dinner so I didn't have to answer any nosy and annoying questions.

When I got to my dormitory I packed my bags and art kit as quickly as possible, hoping to be out of the orphanage and back at the inn before sundown. _Oh that's right! I should leave a note for my family!_ I quickly scribbled down a note about where to find me and that I loved them and left it on Crystal's bed. I ran out of the orphanage and into the street, in such a hurry to get back to the inn that I didn't notice the man in the shadows of the buildings, following me, waiting for the moment that I was alone.

"I've got you, you little brat!" I heard a voice whisper fiercely in my ear as a hand covered my mouth with a handkerchief. I vaguely remember the smell of chloroform before the world started swimming and I passed out thinking about what a crazy week I was having and wondering why it had to happen to me.

**Keth POV **

I walked out of the glass smithy whistling a merry tune, thanking the gods and goddess' that I could whistle again. My thoughts wandered to Renee and about what she said earlier that morning.

_"Niko, I didn't murder that person! I'm in the orphanage because of a murder just like it!" _–Renee

What could she have meant? Were her parents murdered like the corpse we saw earlier? I made a mental note to ask her about it when I saw a figure grab a girl carrying bags of things and cover her mouth and nose. _The murderer?!_ I thought in alarm. I walked quickly, nearly running, into the alley and saw a girl slumped against the wall; she was out cold and the contents of her bags were strewn all over the place.

"Excuse me, miss?" I walked over and shook the girl somewhat roughly. "Are you awake?"

"…No, stay away…" A familiar voice mumbled. "Get off my heart!" The girl screamed and pushed me away with surprising strength for such a small body. It was my fellow student, Renee.

"Renee, it's me. Keth. Are you alright?" Renee stared at me wide-eyed and shivered.

"N-no! M-my heart…" She threw herself into my arms and burst out in uncontrollable sobs. I wrapped my arms around her thin shoulders. Her whole body was trembling in fear and her skin felt clammy and cold.

"She got what she deserved!" A high-pitched, whiny voice shouted. I whirled around to see a small rat-like man standing in the corner cackling. "She got me in trouble with the law enforcement so I decided to pay her back by taking all her money!" He stepped out of the shadows, his beady eyes glancing around suspiciously. "But she had none so I decided to take all her things." He cackled again and thin lightning bolts began to jump over my hands. "She has nothing of value so I destroyed them." By this time I had a small ball of lightning in my hand behind my back. Forming a thin wire with one of my fingers I did what Tris had done to me when I tried to destroy Chime.

"I'm warning you, shut your mouth and hand yourself over to the law enforcers now or you'll be sorry."

"I'm not afraid of _you_." The sleazy man said with a sneer.

"You asked for it." I said throwing the strip of lightning, just enough to knock him out for a couple hours. He fell to the ground with a loud thud. I turned to Renee. "Are you alright?" She looked up at me with fear filled blue eyes and said nothing. She didn't have to; I knew that it was going to be awhile until she would be like her old self. In the meantime I would just have to bring her back to the inn and place her under Tris' tender, loving care. I sighed gathered up her things, picked her up cradle style and brought her back to the inn where I learned about the man's grudge against Renee.

I sighed and tried sleeping on one of the hard wooden chairs, because I had given up my bed to Renee. It was going to be a _long _night…


	9. Chapter 9: The Reason Part Two

**A/n: I was reading through the story and I realized that I SKIPPED A CHAPTER!!! So now all the chapters are mixed up!**

BIG OOPS!

Sorry...

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!!**

* * *

An Artist's Tale**

* * *

****Chapter 9: The Reason Part 2****

* * *

****Renee's POV**

I woke up in the middle of the night to hear the gentle murmurs of Tris', Keth's, and Niko's voices. Swinging my legs out of bed I walked over to the doorway, my feet making no noise as they pattered over the dark wooden floor. 

"…I can't believe that she'll disappear one day." Keth was saying. "How can a person disappear anyway?"

"An artist mage has the power to bring the things they paint to life. You cannot create something without giving something of equal value in return. In Renee's case, she'll eventually have to give up her soul and body in return for bringing things to life." Niko explained calmly.

_Me? What are they talking about?_ I wondered, grabbing the door frame to keep myself upright. I continued to listen as my eyes widened in shock. _My magic is eating away my soul?! _

"Remember that letter from Sandry, telling you about the unmagic?" Niko asked Tris who nodded.

"Unmagic? What's that?" Keth asked.

"The absence of everything." Tris answered. "A very rare…talent. My foster sister Sandry ran into a murderer using unmagic." Tris sighed and added. "In the end, the mage disappeared from the world, consumed by his own power. His unmagic swallowed him."

"That's horrible!" Keth whispered, shocked. I fought down a scream worming its way up my throat. "That'll happen to Renee?"

"Actually, I just used that as a sort of example of when a person is swallowed by their own power." Niko stated. "But yes, something like that might be happening in Renee. And until we figure out how to fix it, she must not be allowed to use her power."

_Not use my power! _I wanted to scream._ That's totally unfair!_

"How can it be fixed?" Tris asked carefully. "She can't be protected from her own power can she? I mean," She lowered her voice; "it's a part of her isn't it?"

"But in order for her to work her magic, it will feed on her soul." Keth countered. "I guess that's where the phrase 'putting your heart and soul into it' came from." He smiled ruefully.

"If the two of you think of something to be done to protect Renee, please inform me." Niko said, scraping back his chair and standing up. His tall wiry form towered above Tris and Keth still sitting at the table. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "And another thing, do not tell Renee about this. Merely keep her from using her magic, do not tell her why…" He turned and walked out of the room with a short yawn.

_"And another thing, do not tell Renee about this. Merely keep her from using her magic, do not tell her why…"_ With Niko's words echoing in my mind I climbed back into bed shivering with fear. It was bad enough living with the feeling of a hand as cold as ice covering my heart, but to know that my soul was being eaten by my own power made everything worse.

But I made up my mind; I was not going to stop practicing my magic no matter what…

And I definitely wasn't going to tell Tris, Niko, and Keth that I overheard their conversation…


	10. Chapter 10: The Nightmare

**A/n: I was reading through the story and I realized that I SKIPPED A CHAPTER!!! So now all the chapters are mixed up!**

BIG OOPS!

Sorry...

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!!**

* * *

An Artist's Tale**

* * *

****Chapter 10: The Nightmare****

* * *

****Renee's POV**

_'Renee, run! Get out of the house!' My mother shouted at me. 'Don't come back in until I say!' Mommy pushed me out the door and slammed it behind me and locked it. _

_'Mommy?' I blinked back tears. I lay on the ground for awhile before my curious nature got the better of me and I climbed through an open window. Inside I heard loud thumps and screams coming from my parents' room. I ran down the hall and opened the door a crack. I saw both my parents exhausted; their blood stained the wooden floor and dripped from a dagger held in the hands of a man wrapped in shadows. _

_'Mommy, Daddy?' I whispered as I slowly opened the door. _

_'Renee?' My father whispered. 'Leave, he'll kill you.' _

_'Kill me?' I asked taking a step into the room. _

_'Renee…' Mommy's voice was fading. '…I'm-we're- sorry…So sorry that we couldn't protect you…' _

_'Yes, the girl. Finally you stand before me.' A voice like liquid and filled with evil whispered. 'It looks like you've failed to protect her…Foolish mortals.' The shadow man took a step forward. 'You've no need to live any longer since I shall mark the child as my own!' The man picked up my father and mother and stuck his hand into their chests and yanked out their beating hearts. 'Die!' He crushed both hearts in his hands. _

_'Sorry. So sorry…' Mommy whispered one last time before her soul slipped out of her body. Daddy reached out his hand to me one last time and then joined her. _

_'Mommy? Daddy?' I whispered staring at the blood covering the walls in the small bedroom. _

_'MOMMY! DADDY!' I shouted again as I ran to the man and woman sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood. _

_'NOOOOOOOO!!!!' I screamed in despair as I realized they were finally dead. _

_'I'll kill you!' I shouted at the shadow in the corner watching me. 'I'll kill you for what you did!!!' _

_'Hah! Hahahahaha' The shadow laughed at me as I cried and tried to wake my parents up. 'I'll be waiting little one…' The shadow stopped laughing and spoke in a voice that sent chills up my spine. '…Let me give you a present before I leave…' _

_I felt an ice cold hand placed over my heart, and I passed out as the shadow person left and the law enforcement arrived. _

_'I'll be waiting…' _

"Renee, wake up!" I heard a voice from far away shout. _What do they want? _I wondered, tears still streaming from my eyes._ Mommy and Daddy are dead and it's all my fault!_

"Renee! Do you hear me?! Wake up!" The voice was getting closer. Something smacked my cheek and then someone shaking me roughly. _What do you want? _I wasn't sure if I said it out loud. _Mommy and Daddy are dead. I killed them. Just go away!_ But the voices wouldn't go away, in fact, they got louder. I slowly opened my eyes to find Tris and Keth standing above me.

"What happened? You were screaming and crying and shouting something like 'I'll kill you!' Are you alright?" Keth asked concerned.

"A dream…It was all a dream?" I asked, rubbing the tears from my eyes. That dream, I thought I stopped having it a year after my parents were murdered. I guess I was wrong.

"I'm alright." I hiccupped and blinked back more of the tears that threatened to overflow. "I just need a few moments alone."

"No." Tris said firmly. "I don't know what your dream was about, but I do know that it was most likely about a terrifying experience from a long time ago. Do you think that I could leave my student alone for a minute when I know she just had a nightmare?" I was about to argue when Marik entered the room.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Tris grumbled when Niko walked up behind my brother.

"Marik? What are you doing here?" I asked curiously, struggling to keep from crying. I didn't fool Marik who knew me inside and out.

"Mister Goldeye just came to the orphanage and asked one of us to come over because you were screaming in your sleep and wouldn't wake up. We figured it was the Nightmare again so I took Elekiel's place because he's…sick." Marik said quickly and sat down on my bed.

"The Nightmare?" Keth asked with a puzzled look on his face. "Again? You mean you've had this same nightmare before?" Marik nodded, ignoring the fact that I hated when people learned of my experience three years ago.

I blocked out Marik's voice as he told Niko, Tris, and Keth about how our parents were murdered in front of my eyes. I wondered what they would think. Would they pity me? Or treat me like a demon, just like most of the villagers, because I was thought to be the one to kill them? I didn't want to be pitied or treated like a demon. I just wanted to be Renee Massey which was why I hadn't told Tris, Keth, and Niko about my hard past.

"Earth to Renee!" Marik waved a hand in front of my face. "Your teacher and her friends have been gone for awhile!"

"Huh, wha-?" I shook my head, the rest of the world coming into focus. "Oh."

"So what was the Nightmare about this time?" Marik got up and threw the heavy shutters open and sunlight streamed in along with fresh air. His green eyes sparkled in the sun and he motioned for me to join him by the window.

"The same as always." I replied blinking in the bright light. "Exactly as when it actually happened."

"Do you think the murder yesterday had anything to do about it?" Marik tousled my long gold hair, tangled and messy from sleep.

"Probably." I answered. _Might have also been the fact that I was attacked by a crazy man last night as well._ "Wait a minute, how'd you know about it?" Marik never was one to listen to Master Crosswire, the news crier, usually making up an excuse for the fact that he really didn't care what was going on around him.

"Oh everyone was talking about it last night at dinner." Marik waved his hand carelessly, accidentally knocking over a framed picture on the wall which landed on his head.

"Ow…" He poked his head through the canvas his face taking the place of the man painted on it. I giggled helplessly, Marik's dirty blonde hair and mischief filled green eyes contrasted sharply with the rich colors of the portrait. "Uh-oh, I don't think I can pay for breaking this."

"No need to worry, I'll fix it." I said, pulling the ripped painting off his head and laying it flat on the hard wooden floor.

"Are you sure you can fix it?" Marik asked as I closed my eyes and began to count to seven slowly as I took in a deep breath. I nodded.

"My magic's in painting, right? So I think I can fix it. If I mess up, well it's already broken so…" I broke off when I remembered what Niko had said last night.

_"Something like that might be happening in Renee. And until we figure out how to fix it, she must not be allowed to use her power."_ –Niko

_Oh so what?_ I thought sullenly, _I'll use my magic whenever I want, they can't stop me!_So with that decided I took another breath and released my magic into the painting.


	11. Chapter 11: Lose Yourself

**A/n: I was reading through the story and I realized that I SKIPPED A CHAPTER!!! So now all the chapters are mixed up!**

BIG OOPS!

Sorry...

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!!**

* * *

An Artist's Tale**

* * *

****Chapter 11: Lose Yourself****

* * *

****Renee's POV**

As soon as I released my magic into the painting three things happened simultaneously. First, I was thrown back from the force of releasing too much magic. Second, the painting began to glow with silvery-purple light. And third, I couldn't see my brother anywhere. 

I sat up from where I had been thrown and rubbed my head feeling oddly giddy and wondering where my brother had gone. For some strange reason I couldn't remember his name and I figured I had bumped my head too hard. I half walked, half dragged myself back across the room, over to the painting to see if I had done anything.

I stared at the painting and my draw dropped. My stomach felt queasy as I looked over the portrait of the slender faced man with jet black hair and bright red eyes. There was no hole in the painting to be seen. I had fixed it.

"What in Mila's name is going on here?!" Tris stormed in. "I leave you alone for ten minutes and as I walk up the stairs I hear a loud BOOM come from our room and find you sitting and staring at a painting, on the floor no less!" Tris paused only to take another large breath and continued. "Renee, I'm going to go out of the room for five minutes and when I return I'm going to see you dressed and looking presentable!" She glared at me with those steely gray eyes of hers. "Do you understand?" I gulped and nodded to my teacher and shuddered when she left the room. I knew I was gonna get it. If not just then, then later.

I quickly pulled off my sleepwear and tossed it on the bed. I yanked open one of the drawers in the heavy dresser and pulled out a light blue summer dress with matching bows for my long hair. I dressed as fast as I could and then ran a brush through my hair, not bothering to braid it as there was no time instead I tied two low horsetails with the bows. I glanced in the mirror and smiled at my reflection rather vainly.

"Are you ready to go?" Niko poked his head through the doorway.

"Almost." I said as I tied on my sandals. "Where did my sash go?" I glanced around and saw it lying by the picture that I had fixed only minutes before. I walked over and picked it up and started to tie it round my ankle. I frowned, something didn't _feel _right about the sash knotted around my ankle, I took it off and glared at it crossly, I guess Tris's moods are catching.

"Niko….This might sound odd but what is my brother's name?" I asked slowly, still staring at the white bit of fabric in my hands.

"We don't have time for that now." Keth came in, "Tris is going to throw a fit if we're not outside standing in front of the inn in, oh, thirty seconds." I shrugged and looked at Keth with a small sparkle appearing in my eyes after tying the white sash back around my ankle.

"Race you?" I asked and dashed out of the room, laughing as though I hadn't a care in the world. Too bad for Tris, Niko, and Keth that they couldn't see what all of my family (the entire orphanage) would've been able to spot right away:

My heart just wasn't in the laugh.

In fact, I felt as though I had just lost something very precious to me.

And in a sense, I had…


	12. Chapter 12: Painting

**A/n: I was reading through the story and I realized that I SKIPPED A CHAPTER!!! So now all the chapters are mixed up!**

BIG OOPS!

Sorry...

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!!**

* * *

An Artist's Tale**

* * *

****Chapter 12: Pain(ting)****

* * *

**

**3rd person POV **

"At last." A man stood up from where he had been sitting in the corner of the little room, since the four mages had left. "I am free…" He stretched his arms towards the ceiling and grinned, his bone white lips parting to reveal sharp white teeth and a forked tongue. His long black hair fell over his face, allowing only an eye as red as blood to be seen. Shadows wrapped around his body and in his right hand he held a dagger which he hid under his black cloak.

"The girl will be mine…"

**Renee's POV **

I had no clue that far away an evil being was taking form inside my room, instead I was gaping at Tris as she introduced me to an art teacher; My art teacher.

"B-b-but Tris, I can't pay for lessons!" I stumbled over my words.

"Whoever said you were paying for them?" Tris asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm paying for them of course."

"I…Oh." Was all I could manage to say. "Thank you."

"And I'm taking them as well. I've got to keep an eye on you so you don't use magic unintentionally."

"You? Paint?" Keth chuckled, "This I gotta see." I tried picturing Tris at an easel, washing out brushes, and staying patient while she actually painted. I giggled, Keth was right, Tris and painting did not go well together.

"Will you two be quiet?" She snapped, "Don't judge what I can and cannot do based on my personality."

"Pleased to meet you," The art teacher finished talking to Niko and turned to me and Tris. "I am Master Michel Angel. Which is the young mage?"

"Me!" I practically shouted, I lowered my voice when Tris glared at me. "I mean, me."

"What's your name?"

"R-Renee Massey, Sir!"

"Well Renee, this studio here is not an army base, you are free to call me whatever you please, preferably Michel." The art teacher grinned.

"Are you the famous Master Michel Angel who has made many paintings and sculptures for royalty around the world?" I asked, still wondering if I was dreaming, it had to be a dream because Tris would never be so nice.

"Well yes I am." Michel said modestly. "But I have taken it upon myself nowadays to train young artists."

"Yup, this is definitely a dream." I mumbled under my breath, I pinched myself hard and winced. It hurt. Maybe it wasn't a dream after all.

"Well, let's get you two set up to start painting." Michel chuckled and led us out of the main studio and into a private one. Tris stayed outside for a moment to place a barrier around it.

"So what are we painting first?" Tris asked coming in. "Landscapes? Portraits? Still lifes?"

"Um Tris? I think we're gonna be sketching first." I informed my teacher.

"She's right." Michel smiled. His blue-grey eyes twinkled.

"Well I've never painted before in my life…unless you count the times I took food dye and tried painting my room." Tris answered with a yawn.

"Well I'll leave you two to get settled and comfortable with your surroundings." Michel stepped through the opening in the circle that Tris made for him. The next minute he was gone.

"Well, we should meditate I guess." Tris said sitting down on one of the high stools; I scrambled up another and sat down on it. Tris started counting to seven and my body quickly fell into rhythm, my chest rising and falling as I fell deeper into the source of my magic.

"Renee? I have a question for you." Tris's voice was faint but I could still make out every word. I nodded to show her I heard her.

"Renee, Did you hear what we were talking about last night?"

My body tensed and I slowly nodded as I opened my eyes, everything that Tris, Niko, and Keth had been talking about the night before came back to me in a flash. I jumped to the floor and fell on my knees at Tris's feet.

I didn't want to die…

But I didn't want to stop using magic either…

Everything I had kept locked up inside myself came pouring out and I began to cry…


	13. Chapter 13: Love

**A/n: I was reading through the story and I realized that I SKIPPED A CHAPTER!!! So now all the chapters are mixed up!**

BIG OOPS!

Sorry...

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!!**

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An Artist's Tale**

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****Chapter 13: Love****

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**Renee's POV **

"I really don't want to die!" I hiccupped into Tris' long skirt. My teacher had got of her stool and sat cross-legged on the floor, allowing me to put my head in her lap and cry until I had no tears left. "Mommy and Daddy, they died in front of me! I told myself I'd stay alive for them!" I cried harder and struggled to keep my breath and voice even.

"That's why I started painting, you know. I didn't want life to go by so fast, like…like it did for Mommy and Daddy! I wanted to freeze time in a painting or sketch…" I was vaguely aware of Tris' hand stroking my hair uncertainly. I kicked the floor and beat it with my fists. "It's not fair! I want to be able to do magic and paint! But I don't wanna die!" Neither I nor Tris noticed Keth standing in the doorway. "It's not fair!"

**Keth POV **

I listened to Renee as she cried in Tris' lap. She was only eight years old and had been through so much. She reminded me of Glaki, after all, her parents were murdered as well, and when Renee was telling Tris why she started painting, her words were those of an adult and not of a child.

"Mommy and Daddy were artists too." Renee was telling Tris, "Everyone in my family is some type of artist." She was crying again. "But after Mommy and Daddy were…were…killed they all stopped. They all stopped practicing art except for me."

"Why did you continue making art if everyone else had stopped?" Tris asked softly. I shuddered, Tris and nice didn't go together as well as Tris and soft-spoken.

"Because! Because I wanted to!" She sounded uncertain, "no…I don't know why I continued to paint…"

"It was probably the magic you have in painting that kept you painting." Tris said, at the mention of magic Renee burst into a fresh bout of sobs.

I winced; it seemed that Renee really wanted to learn magic no matter what. And I wanted to help her dream come true. But as Tris had said the night before;

_"She can't be protected from her own power can she? I mean, it's a part of her isn't it?" _–Tris

But there were charms to protect from bad dreams, charms to protect the wearer from harm. Why couldn't there be a charm to protect the wearer from there own magic?

Ideas started to form in my head, I quickly got up and left Michel's studio and walked down the road to the glass smith where I shut myself in with sheets of paper, a stub of charcoal, and Chime. Along with other pieces of glass and charms.

I made up my mind.

I was going to help Renee Massey fulfill her dream of being able to do magic and continue painting.

I was going to create a charm to protect her from her magic…

All because of a strange feeling that I had around her, a type of love…

Fatherly love…


	14. Chapter 14: Aaron Mihawk

**A/n: I DON'T HAVE MIDTERMS ANYMORE!!! But I've got lifeguard training...blegh...But I still found the time to type up chapter 13! It was originally all in Renee's point of view but then someone asked me to write more in Tris' point of view. So the last bit is in Tris' POV! Hope you like! R&R!! **

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!! **

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**An Artist's Tale **

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**Chapter 14: Aaron Mihawk **

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**Renee POV **

It took awhile, but I finally stopped crying. Tris helped me to straighten out my somewhat wrinkled dress and cleaned my face with a clean sweet smelling handkerchief. I didn't bother asking her what the scent was, because a few moments later Michel entered the room and started instructing us on the proper way to set up an easel. Tris was irritable when the lesson was over, because her easel had fallen on her toes twice. It was silent as we walked to the glass smith's to get Keth; I shut my eyes and let the orange rays of the setting sun dance over my face. I walked into a wall.

"Owww…" I rubbed my head and then opened my eyes, Tris didn't even turn around but focused on something I couldn't see or hear on her breezes. "Um? Tris?"

"We're taking a detour." With that she marched off again and I had no choice but to follow her.

"Tris, where're we going?" I asked, skipping to keep up with her long strides.

"To see something."

"To see what?"

"You'll see when we get there, now just walk faster." I pouted, I didn't want to walk any faster.

"What about Keth?" I asked.

"I think he knows already." Came Tris' answer. I was starting to get annoyed with her short answers that didn't give me a hint to what she was thinking and to where she was taking me. I was about to tell her so when we came to a street blocked by people trying to get through.

"Excuse us, sorry." Tris mumbled as we made our way through the crowd. With a beating heart I realized what must have happened.

There had been another murder.

It was the same as last time; the corpse lay in a pool of blood and it had a small handprint on it's chest. It's sash was soaked with blood that it's color was unable to be identified. Keth was standing beside it along with the snobby green-eyed mage; he was holding something that looked like a glass ball and he looked like he was about to cry.

The world started swimming as tears welled up in my eyes. I fell on my knees to the floor and blinked back the tears. I had promised that I would _not_ cry anymore and cause Tris more trouble.

_Little Faerena Massey…_I heard a voice inside my head and gasped, it was the same voice that the shadow man had. I winced as I yet again felt the ice-cold hand above my heart, and clutched the left side of my chest. _Look at how much you've grown since I last saw you…_The voice was barely above a whisper and filled with menace.

"Where are you?" I whispered looking around at the crowd searching for the evil presence I felt watching me. My eyes landed on a boy around my age with short brown hair, golden-brown skin, and dark brown eyes staring straight at me with a small smile. It was Aaron Mihawk, the boy I used to play pranks with at the orphanage before he got adopted. I didn't like his smile. His eyes lit up when our eyes met.

_Good guess._ Aaron/the shadow man said in my head.

_What do you want?_ I asked, as I felt another sharp pain over my heart.

_I would like to talk to you tonight at midnight on the hill. _Aaron grinned wider.

_And I want you to be alone._

**Midnight: **

**Tris' POV **

My eyes snapped open the moment I heard the creak of a floorboard. I pricked up my ears and listened harder. I could hear Keth snoring in the other room and Niko's deep even breaths. But as I held my breath and listened even harder I realized that I couldn't hear Renee's small breaths from her room. That meant she was up and walking about.

_Creak, creak, creak…_

I squinted out the door and saw a blue blob that was Renee moving as quickly and as quietly as it could. She crept past my room and I followed her with my eyes. When she was out of my sight I listened. When I heard the door click shut I swung out of bed and sent a small breeze out after her while I got dressed and put on my shoes.

Five minutes later I was downstairs and out the door…

I wondered what Renee was doing, going outside at night right after she had been attacked the night before and with a murderer on the loose…

Did it have anything to do with the boy she had been staring at with hatred in her eyes and face earlier that evening?

If I followed Renee and watched her, then I was bound to get the answers to all of my questions…


	15. Chapter 15: Zarran Killen Heartstopper

**A/n: I DON'T HAVE MIDTERMS ANYMORE!!! But I've got lifeguard training...blegh...But I still found the time to type up chapter 14! It's short, I know, but that's because it's kinda part of chapter 13! Anyway! R&R!! **

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!! ****

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****An Artist's Tale ****

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****Chapter 15: Zarran Killen Heartstopper ****

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****Tris' POV **

I followed Renee as she walked quickly to the hill on the outskirts of the village. It was the hill where we had first met. A lone figure stood looking down at the village at the top of the hill. I peeked through the bushes when I reached the top and saw Renee standing there, a few feet away from the other figure. It was hard to tell because the only light came from the moon, but the other figure looked as though he was dressed in _shadows_.

"Well, well, well look who finally showed up…" The figure spoke. The voice sent chills up my spine and I shivered quietly. What sort of person was he? Was he even human? His aura was so filled with evil.

"Aaron." Renee spoke, and I could hear the hatred dripping from her voice like water from a melting icicle. "Are you the one? The one that killed all those innocent people?" She shivered and drew her shawl tighter around her thin shoulders.

"That is correct…" Aaron let his voice fade.

"Were…Were you the one who killed my Mommy and Daddy?" Renee's voice shook.

"That would be a yes."

"And…And…Are you really Aaron?"

"Aaron is dead. I'm merely wearing his body as a disguise." The figure said lifting his hood from over his face. The figures features began to change. The blood drained from his face until it was as white as the foaming waves as they crashed against the rocks, his hair and eyes changed from brown to crimson. He smiled revealing pointed sharp teeth. "Good evening…Faerena Syllenia Massey…I am Zarran Killen Heartstopper.

"_I_ am the one who killed your parents…"

Renee screamed.

A long high-pitched note that cut through the silent night…

A scream of absolute hate, rage, and fear…


	16. Chapter 16: Surprise! Surprise!

**A/n: I PASSED MY LIFEGUARDING EXAMS!!!!! Here is a super special and surprising chapter that I somehow found the time to type up in between scarfing down ice cream! Oh and I felt like I wasn't using Little Bear and Chime so much so that explains the beginning! Read and Review!**

**Please?**

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!! ****

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****An Artist's Tale ****

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****Chapter 16: Surprise! Surprise!

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****3rd POV **

He heard a scream. It sounded familiar.

_Yes,_ he thought, _I know that voice, its Renee's_.

_Is she in trouble?_ Another voice like a musical note rang in his ear.

Little Bear lifted his lips away from his teeth and snarled softly so as not to wake up Niko and Keth. _Let's go and help them. _

_Yes. _Chime agreed.

The large dog bounded out of the room through the door that Tris had mistakenly left open, with Chime gripping his soft ivory curls of fur with her sharp claws to keep from flying off his back and smashing to bits on the floor.

When dog and dragon had left the room Keth sat up in his painfully hard bed fashioned from wooden chairs covered with a thin blanket. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned widely. He had spent a long time on studying charms so he could make one for Renee to protect herself from her magic with and when his stomach growled rather loudly he suddenly remembered not having any dinner because he had been too busy talking with the law enforcement about the murders.

As he opened a small box of dried meat he had meant to eat for the midday meal, he noticed that one of the glass balls he had blown earlier had cleared.

After quickly lighting a candle, Keth grabbed the ball to take a closer look. The blood quickly drained from his face as he recognized the two people lying on the ground with holes in their chests where their hearts had once beaten. They were two of the people that he cherished the most.

"No…" Keth whispered and then ran into Tris' room, it was empty. With a racing heart he ran into Renee's room hoping the both of them were there. But they were both gone.

"Niko! Wake up! Niko!" He shouted running into the mage's room.

"Yes?" Niko asked calmly as he looked up from where he was sitting at a small table studying a framed picture that was out of Keth's view. He was dressed in his favorite gray dressing gown threaded with silver and his thick mustache was as smooth as ever.

"They're gone! Tris, Renee, even Little Bear and Chime!" Still panting heavily Keth shoved the glass ball under Niko's nose. "And look!"

"How long ago did that clear?" Niko asked sharply.

"No clue." Keth was so agitated that small bolts of lightning jumped over his hair and nightclothes.

"Do you have any idea where this place is?"

"No, and it doesn't seem to be in this village." Keth sat down heavily on a chair at the table with Niko and glanced at the painting. He was startled at the strong aura of magic that surrounded it. The magic felt vaguely familiar to him. "Is that Renee's magic?" Niko nodded seriously.

"Do you recognize the person in the painting?"

"Isn't that her brother? Ummm…Market…Maker…Marik!"

"Yes it seems that he somehow became part of the painting. Renee did this, whether or not it was on purpose or by accident."

"Didn't she try asking you what her brother's name was before we left the inn this morning?" Keth thought for a moment and continued. "And that was after Tris heard a large boom coming from her room. But why would Marik be in the painting?"

"She must have let something out of the painting, and that's also probably when the laws of equivalent exchange took her brother in replace of the thing that had once been in the painting. I thought I felt a strong magical presence in her room before we left and since it seemed to come from the painting I took it out of her room later."

"Well how do we get the poor boy out of the painting? Renee is the only artist mage we know _plus_ we don't know where she is."

"I think I can help you there." Keth and Niko stood up and turned to see a boy with light brown hair and dark-green almond shaped eyes sitting on the windowsill. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you yet Master Goldeye, Master Warden.

"My name is Elekiel Massey, Renee's older brother. And one of the last two art mages in the world…"

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**A/n: Surprise, surprise! Who knew about Elekiel? Huh? Who guessed? Huh? Huh? Who guessed about Marik switching places with the man in the painting? Huh? Huh? Huh? **


	17. Chapter 17: The Devil's Heart

**A/n: Here it is! The chapter that explains the creepy murderer dude! And it also explains more about Renee's magic and WHY the creepy dude is out to kill her! Anyway I won't say anymore so just READ AND REVIEW!!!**

**Please?**

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!! ****

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****An Artist's Tale ****

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****Chapter 17: The Devil's Heart

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**Renee's POV **

_Why does everything have to happen to me?! _I wondered as I felt my knees buckle and I fell over.

"Renee! _Renee!_" I heard Tris scream from a distance I saw her kneeling over me and felt her hands on my icy shoulders shaking me, trying to get me up. I tried moving my lips to speak to her, but they were numb and not a breath escaped from my lungs. As my vision swam in and out of focus, I saw Tris get up and shaking with rage, and become so coated in lightning that no human could look at the light without being blinded. But of course, Zarran Heartstopper was no ordinary human, he was a mage. And not just any mage. No, I remembered something my Mommy had once told me.

_"Do you see this fruit?" Mommy asked me holding out a fruit that looked like a gigantic cherry. I nodded wide-eyed and reached out for it with grabbing fingers. Mommy pulled it out of my reach. "No Renee, we can't eat this." She gently admonished me. "This is what I'm going to paint today." She set the abnormally large cherry on a table and then prepared her paints. _

_"Why you painting such a big cherry Mommy?" I asked her as she drew a circle in charcoal on the ground around the area which she was painting. _

_"I thought it would be fun." She said, shooing me out of the circle. "Now go outside and play." I left the studio, taking care to leave the door open a crack, and walked away. A few minutes later I tiptoed back to the door and peeked through. Mommy sat painting at her easel. And she was _glowing

_And in front of my very eyes, the big cherry started to change. It twisted and grew smaller until sitting on the table in a pool of red juice or blood was a heart. _

_And it was beating… _

"Tris!" I snapped out of my daze when I saw her lying on the ground. I stumbled as I tried to reach for her. Suddenly there was something standing on my outstretched arm and I cried out in pain when I felt my bones crunch and then my entire right arm went numb.

"I can't have you moving anywhere Faerena." The shadow man said softly. "I need you to stay here for me. Now get up!" I shook my head no. "I said _get up!_" I felt something pull on my heart and my body began moving without my consent. I struggled in vain against the invisible strings on my heart but I couldn't win.

"Tris! TRIS!" I hollered. "Let me go!" I clenched my teeth to stop them from chattering with fear.

"Hardly possible." Zarran said smiling, bemused. "I need you. I need your heart…"

**No POV **

**On the outskirts of town: **

"The Devil's Heart?" Keth asked. "What is that?" He and Niko were following Elekiel towards the hill where they had heard the screams.

"My parents were wondering the same thing. It was originally a masterpiece created by a group of art mages. Apparently when they finished it they had to give up something. And the heart took all the evil they had ever known and fed on it, grew on it. Eventually the heart gained a conscience and killed its makers." Elekiel answered. "As art mages, it was my parents' duty to watch out for it and stop it from killing any others. My mother was in the middle of painting it into a picture when she was interrupted and only half of the heart was sealed away. The rest escaped and hid itself in the body of a mage and possessed him, but it needed to feed off of human hearts to keep the rest of itself in the world.

"When my parents learned of the fact that the mage was possessed they didn't have the heart to kill him so instead they sealed him away in a painting. Somehow he managed to escape and killed our parents. Renee saw it with her own eyes and she was the girl that was predicted to kill the Devil's Heart. And now…" He paused and turned to look at Niko and Keth.

"…the mage is out to kill her before she has the chance to kill him." Niko finished the sentence for him. Elekiel nodded seriously.

"How do you know all of this?" Keth asked.

"Because unlike Renee I was born an art mage and grew up knowing about it. I learned about the Devil's Heart from my mother and Father. I was there when they painted the mage away into the painting." Elekiel replied.

"Hold on a second, what did you mean that unlike Renee you were born an art mage?" Keth asked quickly.

"Oh? You didn't know? Renee got her powers from our parents when they died. That's why she has double the amount of magic in her body and the reason her magic is eating away at her soul much more quickly than normal." Elekiel said surprised. "I thought it was obvious as to why she had so much magic."

"And what did you mean that she was the girl predicted to kill the Devil's Heart?" Keth asked Elekiel curiously.

"When the Devil's Heart was created it was said that the girl to destroy the Devil's Heart would be the sixth daughter of the sixth daughter and sixth son of the sixth generation of the family."

"That's a lot of sixes." Niko remarked. Elekiel shrugged his shoulders.

They heard a scream from the top of the hill.

"That's Renee!" Elekiel shouted. He whirled around and ran quickly down the road to the hill. "We gotta get to her before something happens!

"Hurry!"


	18. Chapter 18: The Devil Himself

**A/n: Here it is! Chapter 18! The title of the chapter is kinda weird, I know...If you have a better idea for one then tell me in a review and I'll change it! Now Read and Review!**

**Please?**

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!! ****

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****An Artist's Tale

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****Chapter 18: The Devil Himself

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**Renee POV **

"You. You're the Devil's Heart…" I whispered, my voice cracked. "Why me? Why do you want my heart? Is it because you need it to release yourself?"

"Perhaps. But you don't need to know that, do you? You're going to die anyway." Zarran whispered. I cradled my broken right arm in my left arm and looked at Tris lying on the ground.

"I'm sorry, Tris." I smiled sadly at my teacher. "I just don't have the will to live any longer…" I turned to the evil mage. "But I won't let you kill anymore either!" With my good arm I took out a small watercolor painting I had brought along in my pocket. It was a painting of a storm. "You murdered my parents, you murdered my friend, you hurt my teacher…And now you're asking me to give up my life just so you can live?!" I shouted furiously. "Not if I can help it!" I released my magic into the painting, and lightning flashed in the sky.

"Kill him!" I screamed out to the magical lightning. Out of the corner of my eye I could make out the shapes of Niko and Keth running up the hill following a small person draped in a hooded cloak that I didn't recognize.

"Renee!" Keth shouted, as Zarran Heartstopper drew a small dagger. My eyes widened in recognition. It was the same dagger responsible for the death of my parents.

"Watch out!" The mysterious cloaked figure shouted and jumped, tackling Zarran Heartstopper.His hood fell back revealing a head of gentle, light brown curls; it was Elekiel. He jumped back after wrestling the dagger from Zarran's hands and threw it to Niko. "Renee! Are you okay?" He turned to look at me and his hood was thrown away from his face. I cried out when I saw a fresh cut still dripping with blood on his face that started from above his left eyebrow and ended below his right eye.

"Elekiel, what happened?! Why are you here?!"

"It doesn't matter! Is Miss Chandler okay?" He shouted back at me, wiping the blood away from his dark green eyes. I limped over to Tris' side and saw that she was still alive, but unconscious.

"Tris? Tris are you okay?" I whispered shaking her with my good arm. "Tris wake up!" I started sobbing "Tris don't die! Please! You're the closest thing I've had to a mother since Mommy and Daddy died! I can't lose you too!"

"I thought I was just a fussy red-haired mage." Tris said softly opening her eyes.

"No, no! I didn't mean that, I didn't!" I sobbed into her shawl.

"Is she alright?" Keth hurried up behind me.

"Yes, just a little dizzy though." Tris answered in a whisper. "And is it just me or is there an earthquake happening right now?"

"It's just you." Keth whispered relieved. "C'mon, we gotta get out of here while Renee and Elekiel fight the Devil's Heart."

"What's that-hey put me down I can walk on my own!" Tris protested when Keth picked her up. "What do you mean they're going to fight! Hey, I said put me down!" I smiled as Keth carried the fussy mage who was our teacher into the bushes far away enough so that the law of equivalent exchange wouldn't take them away if I used my magic.

"You foolish mortals! Who do you think I am?" Thundered Zarran Heartstopper. "I am the Devil himself!"

"You only have his heart beating within your chest. You're not the Devil, but a creation born of the ignorance and evil of the human heart. You're a creation that can be destroyed." Elekiel said loudly, he turned to me said; "I'll explain later, but for now you _must_ destroy this creation once and for all."

"H-how?" I asked, still confused.

"Draw him." Elekiel whispered. "I'll keep him distracted while you draw him with your pen. And then, he'll be killed with fire…" He jumped into battle with the mage after handing me his pen, a scrap of paper, and a box of matches.

"Elekiel…" I whispered and then clutched the pen tighter in my hand, silently thanking the gods that it was my right arm that was broken and not my left. "For my family…I'll kill the mage for my family…"

I put the pen to my paper and began to draw…

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**A/n: Oh yeah! I'm not gonna update chapter 19 unless I get at least 5 reviews! And not all from one person! I need to know if you REALLY like this story or if I should just drop it!**

**:P just kidding!**

**But seriously, if you want to know what happens next then remember, FIVE REVIEWS!**

**kuro-neko16**


	19. Chapter 19: Forever More

**A/n: Here it is! Chapter 19! Wow. I really did get five reviews! I'm so happy! I tried describing Elekiel a bit more, but it was kinda hard because he's a different type of character than Renee! Anyway, I know that the chapters are short, and I was debating whether or not to comibine chapters 18 and 19. But I decided against it! Anyway, hope you like it! Sadly, this is the second to last chapter...I might start a sequel though! Chapter 20 won't be out for a while cuz I got a (shudder) TERM PAPER to write! And it's on the Treaty of Versailles!**

**R&R!**

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader! THANKS!!! ****

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****An Artist's Tale

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****Chapter 19: Forever More

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**Renee POV **

I drew, and as I drew, Zarran Heartstopper continued to fight my brother to get to me.

"You…Let me get past!" The evil mage growled. Elekiel shook his head and continued to jump around the man with extraordinary speed.

"Are you done yet?" He shouted back to me, I was so lost in concentration that I didn't hear him. I continued drawing as though my life depended on it, and as it happened, it did.

"I'm done." I said a few moments later and raised my dark blue eyes to look directly at the man I had drawn.

"Good!" Elekiel shouted. "Now repeat these words: Zarran Killen Heartstopper I banish thou from this world."

"Zarran Killen Heartstopper I banish thou from this world!" I shouted.

"Into this scroll I hold within my hands!" Elekiel jumped out of the way of another swipe at his chest, blood dripping from his face.

"Into this scroll I hold within my hands!" I repeated.

"Now disappear, _forever more_!"

"Now disappear, _forever more_!" I shouted as loud as I could. There was a sudden gust of wind as the one who had ruined my life was drawn into the drawing of himself.

"Nooooo!" He screamed. It was a terrible sound, like nails being dragged on a slab of rock. "I'll get you for this! I'll come back and take my revenge on you! Faerena Syllenia Massey, I'll kill you!" With those words ringing in my ears the mage disappeared into my drawing of him.

"Now burn him." Elekiel whispered handing me the box of matches. I silently struck a match and held it up in front of my eyes and watched the small flame dancing, reflected in my dark blue eyes.

"For my family…" I whispered, and held the match up to the paper that Elekiel held out for me. The flame leapt from the stick and onto my drawing. I took the burning sheet from Elekiel's hands dropped it to the ground. I watched as the paper that held the man I had hated so much for three years was quickly consumed by the flames and finally became ash. More tears welled up in my eyes as I felt something in my heart that I hadn't expected to feel:

Pity.

I felt pity for the man who was destroyed just because he wanted to keep on living. Hadn't I wanted to do just that? Hadn't _I _told Tris just that morning that I didn't want to stop practicing magic, but I didn't want to die either?

I felt horrible, as well.

I was just like Zarran Heartstopper, wasn't I? Because I had killed him, even if he was a murderer and deserved it. A life is a life, even if that person lived their life as a person who killed. I had killed someone. Someone that had lived and breathed as I did.

I felt as though _I_ was the murderer…

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	20. Chapter 20: Goodbye

**A/n: The final chapter! It's over! I can't believe it! This was THE LAST CHAPTER!!! This is it, no more staying up late at night to type up chapters and no more working on it at school in class when I should really be taking notes!**

**I want as many reviews as humanly possible for this final chapter! Also should I write a sequel? That depends on you (the readers)!!!**

**Please?**

**Oh! And a BIG thank you to _Actaeon_ for helping me get the story to flow better and for being a great beta-reader and sticking by me for this whole story and correcting a lot of my bad grammar and typos! Without you, this story wouldn't be here! THANKS!!! **

**Read & Review! (or else!)**

**

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An Artist's Tale

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Chapter 20: Goodbye

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Renee POV **

"Elekiel?" I whispered. We were both lying in beds in the healer's ward. Elekiel had a bandage around his head to stop the bleeding from the cut he had received.

"Hn?" He glanced up at me from his book.

"It hurts." I clutched my chest as another spasm of pain shot through my heart. "Isn't Zarran dead? Why do I still feel pain in my heart if he's dead?"

"Listen," Elekiel sighed shutting his book and looking me in the eye. His dark green eyes were level. "I'm not the best person to ask that question to. You need to talk to Mister Goldeye about that, I am only twelve after all. I haven't been alive as long as he has." He leaned back on his pillows and shut his eyes. "But my opinion is that it's a curse."

"A curse?"

"On the day you first met him, didn't you say he said something about marking you?"

"Yeah. He said; _'You've no need to live any longer since I shall mark the child as my own!'_ And then I felt something icy cover my heart and I don't remember anything after that." I glanced down at my bandaged right arm. Elekiel opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment the door opened and someone walked in. Someone with green eyes.

"You!" I practically shouted at the newcomer. "You're the snobby mage from before!" I realized a second too late that what I said was disrespectful. "I mean…"

"No, it's quite alright. I understand very much how you feel." The mage said chuckling. "My name is Drakorn Killslayer. You may call me Drake." Drake smiled.

"A pleasure to meet you Drake." Elekiel smiled, as polite as ever. "Elekiel Massey." He shook hands with Drake.

"Renee Massey." I shrugged my shoulders. "But you knew that, right?"

"Yes, I did." The mage chuckled. "And I've found out much more about you in these past few days while you were lying here in bed. And I wanted to say, I'm sorry."

"For what?" Elekiel asked curiously.

"I didn't know about your parents, I just moved here." Drake stuck a hand in his robe and pulled out something from his pocket. "This is my way of saying sorry." He pressed something in my hand. "Here, have a look." I opened my hand.

"It's so pretty." I said looking over the small golden chain lying in the open palm of my hand. "Thank you Drake, but I couldn't take this." I handed the gold necklace back to the green-eyed mage.

"No, it's for you." Drake said refusing to take back the necklace I held out to him.

"I really can't take it," I repeated shaking my head, but I closed my fingers around the precious necklace anyway. At that moment a bustling woman known as Healer Goodheart came into the room.

"My, my what a day for visitors!" The somewhat chubby and absentminded woman beamed. "Master and Madam Warder to see you, as well as Master Goldeye." She stepped aside to reveal a blushing Keth and an annoyed Tris. Niko, as inhumanly thin as always stood behind the two of them with a knowing look in his kind, black eyes.

"Tris, you married Keth?" I asked flabbergasted.

"I did not!" My teacher snapped back.

"I'm sorry, did I get that wrong?" Healer Goodheart asked innocuously.

"Er, no it's fine." Keth said glancing at Tris uncertainly. My quick eyes took in his disheveled appearance; I noticed that he hadn't shaved in a while and he looked as though he'd forgotten to eat more than one meal. His shabby clothes and the dark circles under his eyes suggested he had barely slept or even changed clothes over the past few days. All in all, he looked more in need of a bed in the Healer's Ward than I did.

"Were you that worried about us?" I asked, looking pointedly at his shabby appearance.

"Er, somewhat." He replied, "Actually, I was working on something for you."

"Something…for me?" I asked hesitantly. I had already received a present and I didn't want to seem greedy by taking another. Keth ignored the uncertainty in my voice and pulled out a small charm that looked like one of Chime's flames. It shone with a blazing silver light and Elekiel, Drake, and I yelped and covered our eyes.

"It's a charm." Keth said scratching the back of his neck. "There's a lot of magic in it." I nodded, rubbing my tearing eyes. "It's a special one made specifically for art mages to protect your soul from your magic." Elekiel and I looked up at Keth with open mouths. "I have one for Elekiel, as well." He held out a second, unbearably, bright charm to my brother.

"It hurts my eyes." I complained, reaching an unsteady arm to take the charm held out to me. I fingered it gently. "What's this?" I asked Keth, showing him a small loop made from a delicate gold wire.

"It's something to attach the charm to a necklace or bracelet so you won't lose it." He replied, letting out a big yawn. I noticed that outside the window, Little Bear and Chime were waiting somewhat impatiently. Little Bear had a bandage on his right foreleg where he had been scratched a few nights back when Zarran was killed.

"That's strange…I just got a necklace today…" I glanced at Drake who grinned back.

"I wanted to do something for you to say I was sorry. So when he came to me a couple days ago asking where he could buy a necklace, I managed to get a confession from him and then offered to buy the necklace and give it to you separately myself." Drake, still grinning slightly said as he took the necklace and charm from my hand and linked them together. He clasped it around my neck and the cool glass settled between my collarbones quickly warming up against my skin. I shivered as a tingling feeling spread from the charm to the rest of my body. The light from the charm quickly subsided as the magic ran through my body. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Elekiel thread the white ribbon he wore around his throat through the loop on his own charm and then retie it around his neck.

"Oh! His name's Marik!" I shouted as memories that had been taken away from me whenever I had released magic flooded back into my mind. "Oh dear, is he okay?"

"Still feeling a bit flat." Marik said entering the room behind Michel. "Lucky for me Elekiel's a mage too, or I'd still be stuck in that painting!"

"Marik!" I nearly leapt out of bed, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know!"

"Ah…S'okay." Marik said loudly rubbing his head in an embarrassed manner. "Anyway, do you remember what day it is today?" I frowned, searching through my memories.

"No."

"Hah! Kal, you owe me your next allowance!" Marik laughed loudly motioning for the rest of our family to come in the room, Kalmia looking rather dejected. They were all holding presents.

"It's your birthday, silly!" Marik said, still laughing as he flipped my hair into my eyes.

"It is?" I asked glancing at Elekiel who smiled and nodded. "Hand 'em over!" I demanded holding my hand out to receive my presents.

"Careful, don't overuse your arm." Niko cautioned. I ignored him and tore open my presents. Tris had gotten me a book on grammar, I rolled my eyes she was obsessed with speaking properly. Niko gave me a crystal that lit up in four different colors. Michel had bought me a personalized bag to carry around my art supplies with my initials engraved in silver. Kalmia had gotten me a folder to place finished paintings and sketches in, called a portfolio. Krystal had saved up and bought me brand new paints and brushes. Marik always spent his allowance on junk food so he had pooled his resources with Sonya and they had bought me a light blue summer cape with a silver clasp.

"For meeting the Duke." Sonya said quietly, folding it back up and carefully placing it back in the box it had come in.

"Elekiel?" I asked looking at my brother sitting up in the bed next to me.

"Here." He handed me a badly wrapped package. I opened it excitedly only to find a torn book with worn pages.

"But it's old." I said, puzzled and dejected.

"Look closely at the title." He replied softly.

"_Art Magic and It's Uses_." I read aloud, slowly. "By Analia Massey."

"Analia? Wasn't that your mother's name?" Tris asked. I shrugged and opened the book. A piece of paper slipped out and fell into my open lap, I picked it up curiously and opened it to find a letter written in a familiar looping handwriting.

"To my dear Faerena," I read, "If you have received this book and letter than I am sorry. So, so sorry. _'The sixth daughter born of the sixth daughter and sixth son of the sixth generation of the family.'_ That was the child predicted to kill the Devil's Heart. That was you. So chances are that if you have received this book and letter from Elekiel than Daddy and I have been killed. If that's the case than you have been chosen to be the one to wield our magic. Use it wisely. With much love, Mommy." Silence reigned in the room. "Mommy…"

"She gave it to me the day she and Daddy found out that the Devil's Heart was out to kill them. She instructed me, that if anything happened to them then I should give that to you on your ninth birthday or after you killed the Devil's Heart." Elekiel explained sipping the steaming cup of tea that Healer Goodheart had poured for him.

"Thank you." I whispered, hugging the book close.

**A week later:**

I stood in front of my old house with my family, Tris, Niko, and Keth. I placed a thin hand on the door, blinking back tears and hugging the book close to my chest, tightly.

"Goodbye…" I whispered stroking the white oak door for the last time. I quickly turned around and walked away, it was time to head out for winding Circle Temple.

And standing in the window a smile playing around her pink lips was a woman with brilliant blue eyes and light blonde hair. A man with golden curls and green eyes stood behind her.

"Goodbye." She whispered softly, the man waved. I glanced back as I felt a warm breeze caress my cheek, my dark blue eyes widened in shock and recognition and a single tear rolled silently down my cheek. For a moment I was tempted to run back up the path and through the door, but then I saw my brothers and sisters and my teachers and Keth and I made up my mind and turned my back to my old house.

But the memory of the man and woman at the window will stay with me forever, each detail as clear as the glass pendant I wear around my neck.

Especially the fact that they were transparent.

**THE END**

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A/n: I have given permission to _AnyaDiva101 _to use my characters in her story as a sorta continuation of this story. It's called _Magestic Situations. _Go read it so far!**

**I wrote a one-shot of Tris and Renee to help people who have been asking me to better understand Renee's past...I got too much work to do to take time out to explain! hopefully it makes sense!**

**By the way, it should be pretty obvious but...does anyone know who the man and woman at the end were?**


	21. Epilouge: Reminisence

**A/n: This story...epilouge...one-shot...thingey has been written to clear things up about Renee's past!! Please Read and Review!! Tell me what you think!! Should I write another one to explain the Devil's Heart? Or the mysterious powers of the rare and talented art mages? Tell me in a review and I'll see what I can do!!**

**Thanks a billion and one to _Kairi's-Twin_ for the title and for being an awesome beta-reader!**

**R&R!**

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Reminiscence

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Perhaps I should introduce myself; my name is Renee Massey. I'm nine and a half years old and I'm an ambient art mage, someone with the power to bring the things I paint to life. My own life is complicated. My parents were murdered in front of my eyes when I was five or six by a mage named Zarran Killen Heartstopper also known as the terrifying work of art known as the Devil's Heart. I became an art mage when they-my parents-died, although I didn't know it until I met a fifteen year old girl named Tris. I lived in the orphanage with my family, but no one would adopt us, because they thought I was a monster. In the end I killed the Devil's Heart as I was predicted to, and left with my family and Tris, Keth and Niko for Winding Cricle Temple. And even now, even when Zarran Killen Heartstopper has been dead for half a year, I can still feel his ice hand on top of my heart.

Always there….Always on my heart….Forever…

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I stood staring out the window of my room in the Temple where me, my family, and Tris, Niko, and Keth were staying at and watching the gray sky let loose the water in its clouds. I felt irritable, it had been raining for a week since we arrived and I was starting to wonder whether my teacher; Trisana –Tris – Chandler was in a bad mood. She had been very grumpy lately although that wasn't very unusual, what was unusual (and scared me) was that she wasn't grumbling and snapping at every little thing that annoyed her anymore.

I took a sidelong glance at Tris; she was sitting on a chair and holding one of her many books in her hands, but she wasn't reading it. Instead she was staring out the window her normally steely grey eyes unfocused, staring into the distance. Her braided red hair was tied back with a light blue sash she had borrowed from my older sister Sonya Massey. Her gigantic ivory colored dog Little Bear was lying on her feet, his chocolate colored eyes shut tightly.

"Renee?" I jumped as Tris' voice suddenly broke the silence. Her voice was soft, and she kept her eyes on the steady stream of water that poured from the sky the color of her eyes as she spoke.

"Yes?" I asked, turning to look at her.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" The question startled me.

"In this weather?" I asked grinning; I knew that as a weather mage she saw the rain as a friend. I, on the other hand, don't like rain because it means I can't go out and paint.

"When else? The best time to take a walk and talk about things that you don't want others to hear is when nobody else is around." Tris said looking at me as she put her glasses back on. I could see she really wanted to talk and that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Fine." I agreed and ran to the wardrobe to get my matching sky-blue hat and cloak, I set them down and then ran to take out Tris' dark blue, hooded, outdoor robe, swirling with silver that she had received from her foster sister Lady Sandrilene fa Toren a thread mage and the great-niece of Duke Vedris of Emelan.

"Thank you." Tris said in the same soft, unnerving voice. She slipped it over her gray peasant style dress and then waited while I fumbled to get my cloak on. At last I was ready to leave and we slipped out of our room in the dormitories and made our way out of the very puzzlingly built Temple and into the beautiful gardens.

We walked down the rose path for awhile in silence, listening to the rain pattering like tiny footprints on the ground.

"You know, I think Briar would appreciate these gardens." Tris suddenly said I frowned as I looked down at my black shoes already splattered with wet mud. It wasn't often that she spoke about her foster siblings to me and Keth, and it usually meant that something was troubling her.

"Yeah he's an earth mage, right?" I asked looking up at her expectantly, she nodded in reply. Her nose was the only feature I could see, the rest of her face was hidden in the depths of her hood. "Tris, are you okay? You've been acting odd recently."

"I've just been reminiscing about my past," Tris said softly, throwing off her hood and lifting her face to the stormy sky letting the rain roll down her cheeks and soak her hair. "I've been thinking that it was a little like yours."

"Really? How?" I asked curiously, forgetting for a moment that it wasn't any of my business.

"I come from a merchant's family, like you I was tested for magic but nothing was found. My family sent me from house to house but none of them wanted me. They all thought I was possessed by an elemental spirit or something." I gazed up at Tris as her voice cracked.

"And?" I asked softly reaching out for her hand and placing my small freezing one in hers.

"And then, when none of them wanted me anymore I was passed from one Temple to the next. I had thought it was bad enough that my family didn't want me, but I was wrong; nobody wanted me.

"But that all changed when Niko arrived on the doorstep of one temple I was at. I had heard the head dedicate saying they didn't want me any more. I got angry and lost my temper and suddenly it was hailing in the hallway." I suppressed a giggle, the hailing in the hallway bit was kind of funny. "Niko came out of the office and saw me picking the hail up off the floor; he said he would take me to Winding Circle Temple in Emelan. When we finally arrived there I didn't fit in with the other students, they laughed at me and called me all sorts of names.

"Then one day I cracked and was brought down to Dedicate Moonstreams office where I met Sandry for the first time." Tris smiled, "I remember her net was crooked and she was excited about a strip of lightning that hit a tree. Then Niko and Dedicate Moonstream came out and told us we were being sent to a little cottage on the grounds called Discipline."

"And you still didn't know you were a mage?" I asked, amazed.

"No. I only found out when I accidentally created a mini water cyclone when I tried saving a little dog." She looked down at Little Bear trotting faithfully by her side and smiled. "I had thought I was crazy, I almost believed what my family believed; that I was possessed by some sort of spirit. I was so relived, that I didn't want to believe it." Tris squeezed my hand tightly. "It took me awhile before I could start trusting people again, it was hard but I managed to do it. And I managed to become part of a family once more." She smiled, "Well; now you know my life story, so what about yours? You haven't really talked about it to me yet."

I looked up at her and then down to my mud splattered shoes. "I…" I began and then stopped. I took a deep breath and continued.

"I remember the day I first learned how to paint, Mommy was holding my hand with the brush and explaining different strokes. My first picture was of her, and I always carried it with me wherever I went so I always knew she was there, with me. I burned it when she and Daddy died.

"When I was five or six, I remember peeking in on Mommy when she was painting, it was a huge cherry, but as she painted it mutated it became a beating heart sitting in a pool of blood, and Mommy was painting that heart. I felt petrified; I wondered why Mommy had lied to me. I suddenly found my voice and screamed, Mommy whirled around and her white painting robe hit the heart and it fell to the floor with a sickening splat.

"Mommy cried out and grabbed for it, but it rolled out of her circle of charcoal and disappeared. The only proof it had been there was the pool of blood it had been sitting in and the half finished painting of it. Mommy told me later about the heart, she said it was calledby many names, the most common ones being the Devil's Heart and The Devil's Fruit and it was a creation of the ignorance and stupidity of mankind. The men who created it had been looking to create immortality, an impossible dream. The irony in it all was that they died the moment the heart was finished."

"Why was it called The Devil's Fruit if it was a heart?" Tris asked curiously.

"Because it took the form of a large fruit to tempt people to eat it. And when they did they got powers and magic but only because The Devil's Heart was slowly taking over their body from the inside." I answered and then shuddered as I remembered my friend and fellow prankster at the orphanage Aaron Mihawk. The Devil's Heart had destroyed his body on the inside till Aaron was nothing but a hollow shell to be worn as a disguise. Even now, months later, I still find it hard to believe that he's gone for good. That he won't ever return. I shook my head and continued to tell my story to Tris as though there hadn't been any interuptions.

"After that, Mommy and Daddy began looking very scared and stopped leaving the house, they talked late into the night in hushed whispers. I stayed home from school one day because I was sick; I was lying in bed when I heard a knock at the door. I was about to slip back into dreamland when Mommy came into my room with a face full of fear. She told me to run and get out of the house immediately and stay out, and then she dragged me downstairs and pushed me out the door and slammed it behind me. I ignored her words and slipped back into the house and crept up to Mommy's and Daddy's room. I was about to knock when I heard screams coming from behind the door. I threw it open and saw a man in shadows holding a dagger standing in a corner and Mommy and Daddy lying on the ground, their blood staining the walls. Then the strange man stuck his hand in their chests and yanked out their hearts and in front of my eyes he swallowed them as my parents died." I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks, but I didn't want to stop talking, I wanted Tris to know me and what I'd been through.

"Then he cursed me and I passed out as he left and the law enforcement arrived. I lay in the healer's ward for months without talking, I tried to talk-I really did! But it was as if the words were frozen in my throat and they couldn't come out no matter how hard I tried. Healer Goodheart said I was traumatized by what happened and the fact that I couldn't talk wasn't something that could be healed by magic or medicine, so I stopped trying to talk and waited for the day when I could wake up and speak."

"How long did it take?" Tris asked.

"Half a year." I replied, "I woke up from a nap and when I yawned my voice came out with it. I was so shocked that I fell out of bed and Healer Goodheart dropped the cup of tea she was carrying to me. And then we laughed.

"After another month in the healer's ward I was strong enough to leave, and I joined the rest of my family in the orphanage. That was about the time the rumors started. The rumors that I had been possessed by a demon and then killed my own parents, but I ignored them and held my head high. They couldn't hurt me, I had already lost my Mommy and Daddy and that was the worst hurt of all. The other children in the orphanage agreed with me because we all knew what it was like to lose your parents." I brushed a strand of hair the color of corn tassels out of my face as I looked up at my teacher. "And so now you know me as well as I know you."

"Yes," Tris said thoughtfully then looked down at me and smiled, "It's stopped raining, haven't you noticed?" I looked up in amazement as I realized her words were true. The rain had stopped falling and the grey clouds were dispersing, revealing the bright sun, its warm rays dancing over everything and giving it a sparkling look.

"Look! It's a rainbow!" I shouted gleefully pointing to the arch of colors in the light blue sky. "Let's hurry! We might find a pot of gold underneath it!" I ran down the path through the gardens and laughed as Little Bear ran after me, thinking it was a game of chase. When I returned to Tris ten minutes later, my cloak and hat were coated in mud and I had brown streaks on my face and in my hair.

We walked back through the garden and up the marble steps of the temple; we slipped in quietly and came face to face with Niko and Keth.

"Where have you two been? We've been looking all over for you in this giant, maze-like temple all morning!" Keth exclaimed. "And what has Renee done to her beautiful new hat and cloak?" It was then I noticed how dirty I was.

I looked at Tris, and she looked at me, and we smiled.

"Just reminiscing." We chorused happily and then laughed, leaving Niko and Keth standing in the entrance. Keth blinked in confusion as we made our way up to our room. Niko stood next to him a knowing look in his warm black eyes.

_"Just reminiscing…" _

**THE END **

**A/n: I have given permission to _AnyaDiva101 _to use my characters in her story as a sorta continuation of this story. It's called _Magestic Situations. _Go read it so far!**

**Anyway, thank you again to _Kairi's-Twin._ If it weren't for her this story wouldn't be here!**

**Right, almost forgot to put down different ideas for one-shot story things to explain more of the mysteries surrounding "An Artist's Tale"  
1) The creation of The Devil's Heart  
2) The mysterious art mages  
Well, that's all I can think of at the moment! If you have any other ideas then by all means please tell me in your review!!**

**kuro-neko16**

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	22. A Town's Tale

ATTENTION FANS OF "AN ARTIST'S TALE"!!!!

THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL TO THIS STORY CALLED "A TOWN'S TALE"!!!!

**Summary**: Renee and her group arrive in a new town which is shrouded in mystery, strange disappearances have been occuring for awhile and finally the blame is placed on Renee's new friend named Nali. Renee doesn't believe her friend is behind the disappearances and sets out to find the real culprit. Soon she has tangled herself in a web of riddles, magic, and lies. Can she stop the disappearances and free Nali from blame? Or will she end up having to make a painful decision that will greatly affect both her life and her friendship?

What do you think? Should I start uploading it?

Tell me what you think!!

~~~kuro-neko16


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